Dissonant Lives is not a standard "history of Germany" in the twentieth century, or even of the German dictatorships. It is concerned with the ways in which Germans of different ages and life stages lived through this terrible period in German history, and how they interpreted, confronted, andresponded to the multiple challenges of their times.In volume two, Mary Fulbrook explores the move from the Nazi dictatorship to the communism that succeeded it, examining the experiences and perceptions of selected individuals, and how major historical events affected the course of their lives and their outlooks. In doing so, she provides a newunderstanding of the ways in which not only the character of the German state, economy, and social structure changed over the century, but also the very character of the German people themselves.